Recaps

Wukong learned that the demon who had abducted Little White was Red Boy, son of his sworn brother the Bull Demon King. After Xuanzang woke, Wukong promised to retrieve Little White, whether or not Red Boy recognized their family ties.

• The mountain and earth gods told Wukong that Red Boy, the Bull Demon King's son, ruled from Fire Cloud Cave and had forced them to serve him.
• Wukong realized Red Boy was his nephew because he had sworn brotherhood with the Bull Demon King five hundred years earlier.
• Bajie and Sha Wujing worried that Red Boy might not recognize Wukong as family and could endanger Little White.
• Xuanzang woke after recovering from the fire poison, and Wukong assured him he would rescue Little White.

Wukong found Fire Cloud Cave deserted and learned Red Boy had fled with Little White Dragon, so he sent the mountain and earth gods to search Hao Mountain. Underground, Little White Dragon woke in a cramped space beside the unconscious Red Boy.

• Wukong left Xuanzang with Bajie and Sha Wujing and flew to Fire Cloud Cave to find Red Boy and Little White Dragon.
• Wukong discovered the cave empty and learned from a hiding demon that Red Boy had escaped with the Five Elements Chariot and Fire-Tipped Spear after hearing Wukong had killed him.
• Wukong ordered the mountain gods and earth gods to search Hao Mountain for Red Boy and Little White Dragon, then hurried back to report to Xuanzang and the others.
• Red Boy tried to seize Xuanzang, but Little White Dragon grabbed his wrist, and the two plunged underground together before Red Boy created a small space and passed out.
• Little White Dragon woke in the underground space, badly injured, and saw Red Boy lying unconscious nearby.

Trapped underground and injured, Ao WujI and Red Boy recovered without access to spiritual energy and argued as they confronted their predicament. Ao WujI insisted that his master and fellow disciples would find them, leaving Red Boy speechless after asking who was looking for him.

• Red Boy woke, threatened to kill Ao WujI, and tried to attack him, but his injuries left him coughing and unable to gather qi.
• Ao WujI and Red Boy realized the earth around them blocked spiritual energy, leaving them too weak to escape.
• Red Boy cursed Ao WujI and blamed him for their predicament, but Ao WujI ignored his outbursts.
• Red Boy asked Ao WujI's name, learned it was Ao WujI, and introduced himself as Red Boy.
• When Red Boy asked whether they would die underground, Ao WujI said his master and fellow disciples would find them and challenged Red Boy to name anyone searching for him.

Wukong sought help from Ao Run to locate the captured Little White Dragon, and the West Sea Dragon King brought his troops to search Hao Mountain. Deep underground, Red Boy insisted that his father would come looking for him, while Little White Dragon reassured him that he believed it.

• Wukong returned to Xuanzang and learned from his written suggestion to ask the Dragon Tribe to locate Little White Dragon.
• Wukong went to the West Sea, where Ao Run used his secret art but could only sense his son faintly.
• Ao Run rushed to Hao Mountain with Wukong and ordered his assembled sea troops to search every peak and cave.
• Red Boy asked Little White Dragon whether his companions would find him, then insisted that his own father would come too.
• Little White Dragon told Red Boy that he believed him, leaving Red Boy surprised before he turned away.

Ao Run’s search for Little White Dragon and Red Boy led the group to discover that the two were trapped deep in Hao Mountain’s earth veins, where only a harmony of water and samadhi true fire could reach them. Wukong flew to seek Red Boy’s father, while Ao Run and the West Sea troops began digging as they awaited a rescue.

• Ao Run’s searches and the mountain gods’ reports found no trace of Little White Dragon until Ao Run used a bloodline secret art to locate him beneath the group.
• The mountain gods tried to follow the golden light underground but could not descend far enough to reach the earth veins’ deepest reaches.
• The old earth god explained that Red Boy’s samadhi true fire and Little White Dragon’s water nature had likely carried them underground through the cycling of the earth element.
• Xuanzang wrote that the one who tied the bell must untie it, and Wukong set off for Banana Cave on Green Cloud Mountain to find Red Boy’s father.
• Ao Run ordered the West Sea troops to dig into the pit and joined them himself.

Ao Run and the gods dug through Hao Mountain to search for Red Boy while Sun Wukong flew to find Banana Cave. After Hariti Heaven warned him to spare Red Boy, Wukong reached Princess Iron Fan and learned the Bull Demon King had left her, then revealed that he had come because of Red Boy.

• Ao Run reassured the mountain gods and earth gods that the West Sea Dragon Palace and Heavenly Court would compensate them, and they joined the digging.
• Bajie questioned whether Sun Wukong really knew the route to Banana Cave, and Xuanzang silently shared his concern.
• Sun Wukong flew south by mistake and met Hariti Heaven, who directed him northwest and asked him to spare Red Boy.
• Sun Wukong reached Banana Cave, where Princess Iron Fan told him the Bull Demon King had moved to Cloud-Rubbing Cave and married Princess Jade Face.
• Princess Iron Fan reacted fiercely when Sun Wukong said he had come because of Red Boy.

After learning that Red Boy had become a bandit and trapped Xuanzang and Ao Run underground, Princess Iron Fan blamed herself and the Bull Demon King, then joined Wukong to help rescue them. She brought a seed of Red Boy’s Samadhi True Fire to Hao Mountain, apologized to Xuanzang and Ao Run, and prepared to follow the earth god’s instructions.

• Wukong told Princess Iron Fan that Red Boy had become the Holy Infant Great King and had trapped Xuanzang and Ao Run underground.
• Princess Iron Fan blamed herself for Red Boy’s misdeeds, cursed the Bull Demon King for sending their son away, and agreed to help rescue the captives.
• Princess Iron Fan retrieved Red Boy’s Samadhi True Fire seed and insisted on accompanying Wukong to Hao Mountain to discipline her son and apologize.
• At Withered Pine Ravine, Princess Iron Fan apologized to Xuanzang and Ao Run, who urged her to help with the rescue.
• Wukong called for the earth god to explain what they should do next.

The old earth god devised the Water-Fire Golden Light Drill, and Wukong, Ao Run, and Princess Iron Fan joined him to burrow underground and rescue Red Boy and Little White Dragon. Deep below, Red Boy worried that nobody was coming for them, but Little White Dragon insisted they had not been abandoned.

• The old earth god presented his Water-Fire Golden Light Drill, with Wukong wielding the Golden Cudgel as its metal drill bit.
• Wukong, Bajie, and Xuanzang praised the old earth god’s plan, and Ao Run urged them to begin the rescue.
• Princess Iron Fan broke her crimson jewel to release Samadhi True Fire, enduring its scorching pain as she agreed to help save her son.
• The old earth god combined Ao Run’s true dragon water and Princess Iron Fan’s Samadhi True Fire, forming the drill around himself, Wukong, Ao Run, and Princess Iron Fan.
• The four plunged underground toward the deepest earth veins without leaving a hole behind.
• Red Boy feared that nobody was searching for him and Little White Dragon, but Little White Dragon answered, “No.”

Little White Dragon reassured Red Boy that his companions would come for him, prompting Red Boy to reveal how neglected and unwanted he felt by his parents. Little White Dragon recognized his own childhood in Red Boy and reached out to comfort him, leaving Red Boy startled and in tears.

• Red Boy challenged Little White Dragon’s confidence that his companions would risk the Earth Veins to rescue him.
• Little White Dragon admitted he had once felt useless but said his companions had told him they could not do without him.
• Red Boy confessed that his parents rarely spent time with him and pushed him toward goals he did not want.
• Red Boy said he had become powerful and wanted to become the strongest demon king so his parents would notice him.
• Little White Dragon remembered seeking his own father’s attention as a child, then gently patted Red Boy’s head.
• Red Boy recoiled from Little White Dragon, covered his forehead, and burst into tears.

Little White Dragon helped Red Boy understand that his worth did not depend on being needed or approved of, but on choosing his own path and relying on himself. As he finished speaking beneath the earth, his eldest senior brother broke through the ceiling and arrived.

• Little White Dragon asked Red Boy whether he needed to be needed, then explained how he had once feared he was useless to his companions.
• Little White Dragon said he chose to remain with his master and fellow disciples because he wanted to, not because they needed him.
• Little White Dragon taught Red Boy that self-reliance meant finding his own true heart and struggling upward like a seed pushing through the earth.
• A thunderous crash sounded as the ceiling was torn open by a dark-gold Iron Cudgel.
• Little White Dragon's eldest senior brother arrived and called out to reassure him.

Sun Wukong, Ao Run, and Princess Iron Fan reached the trapped group and reunited with Little White Dragon and Red Boy. The old earth god warned that most of them were too exhausted or injured to escape through the earth veins, and Wukong suggested Little White Dragon and Red Boy could help.

• Sun Wukong praised Little White Dragon for standing firm, and Little White Dragon thanked him.
• Ao Run rushed to his son, checked his injuries, and scolded him before Little White Dragon bowed and promised to remember his words.
• Princess Iron Fan embraced Red Boy instead of scolding him, and he finally hugged her back and sobbed.
• The old earth god explained that using the Water-Fire Golden Light Drill had exhausted him and that Ao Run and Princess Iron Fan were also injured.
• Sun Wukong pointed out that Little White Dragon and Red Boy might help the group return through the earth veins.

Wukong reunited Red Boy with Princess Iron Fan and got the boy to apologize to the old Earth God. After Red Boy and Little White Dragon recovered, they combined their powers with the Earth God’s method and launched the group upward through the Earth Veins.

• Princess Iron Fan made Red Boy acknowledge Wukong as his uncle and apologize to him.
• At Wukong’s urging, Red Boy knelt and apologized to the old Earth God for bullying him, thanking him for saving his life.
• Wukong explained that escaping required the Earth God’s Water-Fire Golden Light Drill, and Little White Dragon warned that Red Boy could not withstand the deep pressure alone.
• Red Boy and Little White Dragon recovered their strength, then combined Samadhi True Fire, spirit water, and the Earth-Escape Technique while Wukong prepared to clear the way.
• Ao Run and Princess Iron Fan held on to their sons, Wukong carried the weakened Earth God, and the group fused into a red, blue, and gold drill that shot upward.

Wukong and the others escaped the earth veins, but Princess Iron Fan collapsed from fire poison after their ascent. As Red Boy begged Xuanzang to save her, Guanyin Bodhisattva arrived.

• Wukong and the others burst out of the ground and landed near Xuanzang and the others.
• Red Boy discovered that Princess Iron Fan was unconscious and cold, and Wukong realized the fire poison had caused her three souls to leave her body.
• Red Boy pleaded with his mother to wake and poured his recovered magical power into her, but she did not respond.
• Xuanzang began tending to Princess Iron Fan as Red Boy begged him to save her.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared amid fragrant breezes, falling lotus blossoms, and auspicious clouds.

Guanyin Bodhisattva arrived to treat Princess Iron Fan, whose life was threatened by fire poison. After Red Boy mistook her healing method for an attack and charged at her, Wukong and Little White Dragon stopped him; Guanyin explained her method, and Red Boy knelt before her.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva arrived at Wukong's request and told Xuanzang to stop channeling the Nectar Buddha Wheel because Princess Iron Fan's injuries required her intervention.
• Guanyin placed Princess Iron Fan on a Thousand-Petal Lotus Pedestal, which transformed into a bed of Heavenly Dipper Blades that pierced her body and drew out black smoke.
• Red Boy accused Guanyin of harming his mother and charged at her with his Fire-Tipped Spear.
• Little White Dragon knocked the spear from Red Boy's hand, and Wukong restrained him and told him Guanyin was saving his mother.
• Guanyin explained that the blades had to pierce Princess Iron Fan's meridians to force out the fire poison, and Red Boy knelt before her.

Guanyin Bodhisattva healed Princess Iron Fan and gave Red Boy spiritual water to purge the remaining fire poison. When Princess Iron Fan realized Guanyin had come to take Red Boy, she clung to him in terror and grief, and Guanyin announced that the time had come for him to go with her.

• Guanyin Bodhisattva transformed the Lotus Pedestal into a crystal urn and used spiritual light and sweet dew to heal Princess Iron Fan.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva gave Red Boy poison-dispelling spiritual water, and he fed it to Princess Iron Fan until she woke.
• Princess Iron Fan embraced Red Boy and wept instead of thanking Guanyin Bodhisattva, while the others wondered at her reaction.
• Princess Iron Fan understood that Guanyin Bodhisattva had come to take Red Boy, and she held him tighter as he tried to comfort her.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva addressed Princess Iron Fan as Rakshasa Woman and said the time had come for Red Boy to go with her.

Guanyin revealed that Red Boy was Hariti’s son Pingala, reborn in Princess Iron Fan’s womb through a temporary mother-son bond, and that their separation had been agreed upon from the start. With his trial complete, Pingala stood one step from attaining true fruition as Guanyin asked him to leave with her.

• Guanyin told Princess Iron Fan that her Rakshasa bloodline could not bear children with Bull Demon King and that Red Boy was not her biological son.
• Princess Iron Fan accused Guanyin of placing Red Boy in her womb, and Guanyin recounted how Buddha taught Hariti to stop devouring children and return her son Pingala.
• Guanyin explained that Hariti had entrusted Pingala to Princess Iron Fan for rebirth, warning that their bond would be brief and that Princess Iron Fan would suffer.
• Guanyin said Princess Iron Fan hid Red Boy and pushed him into arduous cultivation, while her obsession strained her marriage to Bull Demon King.
• Guanyin told Red Boy that he had completed his trial and asked him to come with her as Pingala, leaving Princess Iron Fan behind.

Red Boy rejected Princess Iron Fan as his mother and unleashed an uncontrolled sea of Samadhi True Fire, but she embraced him until Guanyin extinguished the flames. Hariti Heaven then appeared in a body identical to Princess Iron Fan’s, and Xuanzang prepared to tell the story that would explain their connection.

• Red Boy accused everyone of lying about his mother and erupted into a sea of Samadhi True Fire that threatened the mountain and himself.
• Princess Iron Fan embraced Red Boy despite the flames burning her, and he tried to withdraw the fire when he saw her suffering.
• Guanyin poured water from the Pure Water Vase to extinguish the fire, and Red Boy sobbed in his mother's arms.
• Guanyin healed Xuanzang's throat, and Xuanzang asked whether someone was still missing.
• Guanyin called Hariti Heaven down from the clouds, revealing that her True Body looked exactly like Princess Iron Fan.
• Hariti Heaven apologized to Red Boy and Princess Iron Fan, and Xuanzang began to tell the story behind their connection.

Xuanzang revealed the Buddha’s account of Hariti Heaven’s past life and the wicked vow that drove her to devour children. Hariti learned that her beloved Pingala had been the only merchant who tried to save her, while she remained transfixed by Red Boy.

• Xuanzang corrected the account of Hariti’s meeting with the Buddha, describing how she found Pingala in an alms bowl, only for the child to turn into bones and broth.
• The Buddha explained that Hariti had once been a pregnant cowherd woman abandoned by five hundred merchants after she miscarried during their festivities.
• As she died, the cowherd woman vowed to become an evil ghost and devour the merchants and their children, then became Hariti and developed an urge to eat infants.
• The Buddha revealed that Hariti’s five hundred children were reincarnations of the merchants, and Pingala was the one man who had tried to return to help her.
• The Buddha said Hariti could end her suffering only by eating the child she loved most, while Hariti stared at Red Boy and Princess Iron Fan wept silently.

Xuanzang and Hariti Heaven recounted how Red Boy’s former life as Pingala sacrificed himself to free his mother from suffering, and how Hariti vowed to guide her remaining children toward goodness. Hariti’s story ended with her vows, while Red Boy listened beside Princess Iron Fan.

• Xuanzang told Red Boy that Pingala had pleaded with Buddha to save Hariti and willingly sacrificed himself to become broth for her.
• Red Boy remembered Pingala’s sacrifice as tears fell, while Princess Iron Fan hesitated to touch him for fear of losing him.
• Hariti Heaven asked Xuanzang to let her continue and described learning that Pingala had given his body to free her from suffering.
• Hariti said Buddha had told her that Pingala’s soul was enduring Avici Hell for her and her other children’s karmic debts.
• Hariti recalled vowing never to kill again, to protect the Dharma and children, and to guide her remaining children toward goodness so Pingala could be freed from suffering.

Hariti Heaven revealed that Princess Iron Fan had been created from her shed rakshasa body to become Pingala’s mother, and apologized for the suffering her obsession caused. As Red Boy struggled with whether he was Pingala or Niu Shengying, Xuanzang asked him who he thought he was and who the two mothers had acted for.

• Hariti Heaven recounted finding and redeeming her 499 children, then learned that Pingala would be reincarnated but still had to endure trials to attain true fruition.
• Hariti Heaven explained that she created Princess Iron Fan from her former rakshasa body so Princess Iron Fan could become Pingala’s mother.
• Hariti Heaven admitted she had caused Princess Iron Fan’s suffering, and Princess Iron Fan told her she did not blame her and claimed Red Boy as her son.
• Red Boy became overwhelmed by memories of both lives and questioned whether he was Pingala or Niu Shengying.
• Xuanzang approached Red Boy and asked who he thought he was and who the two mothers had done everything for.

Xuanzang told Red Boy the story of Sudhana’s search for wisdom, then revealed that Sudhana was the cowherd girl’s child reborn after dying amid evil karma. The chapter ended with Xuanzang telling Red Boy that he was Sudhana.

• Xuanzang recounted how Sudhana, troubled by others’ greed, followed Manjushri Bodhisattva’s advice and learned from fifty-three Good Spiritual Friends.
• Wukong and Bajie joked during the story while Little White Dragon told them to stop interrupting Xuanzang.
• Red Boy insisted he had not listened and told Xuanzang to leave him alone.
• Xuanzang revealed that the cowherd girl’s child had died in darkness, then been reborn through many lives while continuing to do good.
• Xuanzang explained that the child’s accumulated good deeds led to his rebirth as Sudhana and told Red Boy that Sudhana was his name.

Guanyin Bodhisattva explained how Sudhana, Pingala, and Hariti’s karmic debts were resolved when Sudhana merged with Pingala in Avici. Red Boy rejected the idea that he was any of them and insisted on being himself.

• Xuanzang asked Guanyin Bodhisattva to explain what happened to Sudhana.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva revealed that Sudhana’s, Pingala’s, and Hariti’s intertwined karmic debts formed an endless deadlock.
• Sudhana went to Avici with Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, climbed the mountain of blades, and merged with Pingala, resolving their karmic burdens and fulfilling Hariti’s vow.
• Hariti collapsed, and Princess Iron Fan tried to comfort Red Boy, who pushed her away.
• Red Boy challenged Guanyin Bodhisattva and Xuanzang, rejecting their claims that he was Sudhana, Pingala, or merely Hariti’s child.

Red Boy resisted the past-life identities emerging within him until Little White Dragon confronted him about accepting that they were all part of him. Red Boy finally saw his tearful mother and stood stunned, his flames gone.

• Red Boy’s body sprouted two additional heads as he demanded that the identities of Pingala and Sudhana leave him.
• Xuanzang asked Little White Dragon to answer Red Boy, and Little White Dragon stopped Red Boy from striking the other heads.
• Little White Dragon explained that past lives formed part of a person’s consciousness without erasing who they were in the present.
• Little White Dragon rebuked Red Boy for rejecting the guidance of Pingala, Sudhana, Hariti, and Guanyin Bodhisattva, and urged him to look at Princess Iron Fan.
• Red Boy saw his mother’s tear-streaked face, fell silent, and lost the flames surrounding him.

Little White Dragon awakened to his path and helped Red Boy recover his true form. After Xuanzang explained how past thoughts and deeds shaped but did not define him, Red Boy chose to enter the Buddhist path under Guanyin Bodhisattva.

• Little White Dragon subdued Red Boy with his words, then received praise from Xuanzang, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and his fellow disciples.
• Princess Iron Fan and Hariti Heaven urged Red Boy to return home and promised to protect him.
• Red Boy thanked Princess Iron Fan and Hariti Heaven, apologized to his mother, and said he would not go back because he now knew what he ought to do.
• Xuanzang taught Red Boy that past deeds were like drops in a flowing stream and that he should hold to the present thought.
• Red Boy thanked Xuanzang and asked to enter the Buddhist path and cultivate under Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Red Boy accepted Guanyin Bodhisattva’s precepts and became Sudhana, then received a powerless pilgrimage to Mount Luojia as penance. Princess Iron Fan and Hariti Heaven were assigned to accompany and guard him, while his formal acceptance as Guanyin’s disciple remained contingent on completing the journey and fifty-three visits.

• Red Boy declared he wanted to live for himself and learn from Ao WujI, and Guanyin Bodhisattva shaved his head and named him Sudhana, or Good Fortune Boy.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva explained that Princess Iron Fan had endured the mountain of blades in Sudhana’s place, so Sudhana had to walk from Hao Mountain to Mount Luojia without magical power.
• Princess Iron Fan agreed to accompany Sudhana without using magic, and Guanyin Bodhisattva ordered Hariti Heaven to serve as their guardian without intervening except in mortal peril.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva instructed Sudhana to seek Good Spiritual Friends through fifty-three visits before she would formally accept him as her disciple.
• Guanyin Bodhisattva departed for the South Sea after Xuanzang and his companions bid her farewell.